Greg Zelek

Principal Organist and Elaine and Nicholas Mischler Curator of the Overture Concert Organ

Praised as “extraordinary in the classical music world” (Jon Hornbacher, PBS Wisconsin Life) and a “musical star” (Bill Wineke, Channel 3000), Greg Zelek is the Principal Organist of the Madison Symphony Orchestra and Curator of the Overture Concert Organ. In this role, Greg performs and oversees all of the MSO’s organ programming. The MSO Organ Series regularly attracts over one thousand ticketed audience members for each of Zelek’s creatively curated and performed concerts. Since September 2017, Greg has proudly held the Elaine and Nicholas Mischler Curatorship.

In addition to his unique position in Madison, Zelek is the Curator of the J.F. Bryan Concert Organ Series for the Jacksonville Symphony and the new Northrop Organist at the University of Minnesota.

Zelek also performs frequently as a soloist throughout the United States. Always playing his solo programs from memory, Zelek has played and premiered many of the large works of the organ canon, as well as new works that showcase the versatility of the instrument.

Alongside various orchestras, Greg has performed the organ concertos of Barber, Poulenc, Rheinberger, and Jongen. Greg has also been the organist for works such as Mahler’s 8th Symphony, Janáček’s Glagolitic Mass, Saint-Saëns’s Organ Symphony, Strauss’s Alpine Symphony, Respighi’s Pines of Rome, Foss’s Phorion, and Gounod’s Faust.

Zelek is known for his inventive programming and collaborations. He has performed a classical and gospel concert with counter-tenor Reginald Mobley, arranged and commissioned works for cello and organ with cellist Thomas Mesa, performed in a Latin-American concert with a Cuban band from Miami, FL, and collaborated with electronic trombonist Mark Hetzler, in a concert featuring new music for organ, trombone, and percussion. He has also performed with the Canadian Brass in his continued role as Visiting Guest Artist at St. John’s Abbey in Collegeville, MN.

In 2016, Greg was chosen by The Diapason magazine as one of the top “20 Under 30” organists and has won prizes in numerous organ competitions. Zelek released a recording on the Overture Concert Organ in the Fall of 2022. A recipient of the inaugural Kovner Fellowship, he received his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees, as well as an Artist Diploma, from the Juilliard School as a student of Paul Jacobs. Greg, who is Cuban-American and a native Spanish speaker, grew up in Miami, FL and resides in Madison, WI with his wife and daughter.